Stakeholders meeting for Conservation of Pobitora Wild Life Sanctuary

way2barak, Dec 6: A stakeholders meeting organized by the Morigaon district administration in association with Aaranyak with support from the IUCN (CAG) to explore ways for better conservation of the famed rhino habitat in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.

The deliberation in the meeting held in the conference hall of the District Commissioner’s office on Monday (Nov 4), flagged plethora prevalent critical issues related conservation of the one-horned rhino and its habitat in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) and suggested ways to overcome the challenges through synergized actions that needs sustained and proactive support from the district administration.

The District Commissioner of Morigaon Debashis Sharma played a prime role in facilitating the meeting. Local NGO Sipa extended valuable support to organize the meeting in coordination with Aaranyak’s Senior Manager Dr Deba Kumar Dutta.

District Commissioner Debashis Sharma termed the meeting a significant one for conservation of rhino and its habitat in Pobitora WLS and pledged to address the issues flagged by various stakeholders in the meeting.

The Superintendent of Police Hemanta Kumar Das lauded VDP and local people’s support toward the anti-poaching efforts put up by the Police and Forest Department to achieve ‘zero-poaching’ over the years. He also elaborated on a few plans mulled by the district police to secure rhinos of Pobitora.

Deliberating in the meeting the Secretary General and the CEO of Aaranyak Dr Bibhab Kumar Talukdar highlighted three key issues, other than poaching, that are presently posing challenge to conservation of the rhino habitat in Pobilota WLS. While lauding the achievement of ‘zero rhino poaching’ for the last eight years because of ‘outstanding coordination among various agencies and stakeholders including the Forest Department, Police, VDPs and local communities, Dr Talukdar underscored the need to urgently tackle the problem of rampant cattle grazing  in Pobitora grassland that has led to scarcity of nutritious food for rhinos and requested the district administration to explore allotment of about 200 hectares of government land to set up a grazing reserve for cattle grazing in the area to make Pobitora grassland cattle grazing- free. This will benefit rhinos as grasslands in Pobitora has been found over grazed by thousands of cattle leading to lack of nutritious food for rhinos. He said, if Grazing Reserve can be set up it will be a landmark contribution of Morigaon District Administration for conservation of rhinos in Pobitora WLS.

Dr Talukdar further flagged the need for proper habitat management in the WLS to improve fodder for rhinos and requested the district administration to explore options to provide fund as much as possible for the purpose. He said the raging problem of heavy siltation on natural wetlands in the core area of the WLS must be tackled through a concerted efforts led by the district administration to restore the overall habitat in the wildlife protected area.

While stating that resumption of translocation of rhinos from Pobitora WLS which is known for its highest rhino density on the planet, will augur well for the rhino population, Dr Talukdar further suggested for engagement of poverty-hit unemployed local people of the area in government development projects by providing job cards so that this vulnerable section of population could not be lured by vested interested linked to network of rhino poachers.

Additional District Commissioner Ms Anusuya Sharma who was present throughout the discussion, appreciated the concerns raised and solutions prescribed by various stakeholders. She said the matters would be taken up with concerned departments by the administrations for resolutions.

Former Conservator of Assam Forest Department Officials C R Bhobora and former Assistant Conservator of Forest Mukul Tamuli enriched the discussion by sharing their valuable experiences that they gathered during management of Pobitora WLS during their tenures. The Range officer of Pobitora WLS Pranjal Baruah highlighted the efforts of Pobitora Range in securing the rhino and their habitats.

A team of three officials from WWF-India led by Amit Sharma also suggested various ways to tackle challenges posed to rhino conservation in the WLS.

Several village heads, representatives from Pobitora tourism sector and community representatives assured that people of the greater areas surrounding Pobitora WLS will always support any measures taken for conservation of the rhino habitat and requested the Pobitora WLS authority to take people into confidence in tackling challenges posed to the habitats.